When the juices of competition run through the veins of people, it is hard to give up the passion they love.
Tony Brill did that in 2010, as he retired from powerlifting after winning his last open-division world championship. His body could not take the strains after a long career in the sport.
Brill, a retired police officer, began competing as a powerlifter in 1998 in the American Athletic Union (AAU).
"I saw the writing on the wall, I was getting old and the younger guys were getting too strong," Brill said. "The bottom line is, if you can't win the open division, there is no point going on."
The sport runs in the family, and his son Everett, was going for his third world title this past summer. So, as a surprise, Brill and his wife came out of retirement to do one more competition. They needed to get a waiver to qualify for the world championships and it was granted.
"We hid our names and he didn't know we were coming," Brill said. "We showed up in Virginia Beach to compete with him. It was about the Brill family wanting to have some fun."
At the end of October, Brill entered in the Masters Division (50-54) at the Raw Powerlifting Federation World Championships in the 234-275-pound class. Powerlifting consists of three lifts, starting with the squat, bench press and athletes finish the day with the dead lift. Each competitor has three attempts at each lift and the best of the three attempts are added up to account for the final total. The competitor with the highest total wins.
In the Raw Powerlifting Federation, no supportive gear is allowed, which means no knee wraps or lifting suits. The only thing allowed is a wrestling singlet and four-inch weightlifting belt.
"I was tiny compared to some of the guys," Brill said. "I did alright. In my age group, it is hard to find many guys to compete against."
Brill set a Masters Division world record in the squat, deadlift and the total. He added that he struggles in the bench press and always has.
"The bench press has never been a strength of mine," he added. "I make up for it in the squat and deadlift. It was a blast going back there and I enjoyed seeing the people I haven't competed with or talked to in years. Physically it was a demand and taxing on the body. We gave ourselves 10 weeks to get in to world-class shape, which is tough to do. You want to give yourself a lot more time to get your body ready to compete."
Drug testing is also a big part of competing and anything on the International Olympic Drug (IOC) banned list, translates to powerlifting. Anytime a competitor breaks an open-division record, he or she is automatically drug tested.
"When I won my last open-division championship in 2010, they let me take a picture with the champion belt, but I couldn't take it home until I passed my drug test," he said. "That is the way I like it. There is a big list that is posted of those who get caught and that is the last list you want to be on."
Brill's wife won the open division in the bench press and the Masters Division in the 132-pound weight class, while his son placed third.
"She can still compete pretty well," Brill said. "My son did alright, but had some mental faults in his thinking. He did good, but not good enough."
No matter what the finishes were, Brill said the trip back to the East Coast was worth it to see his son compete and have the family together.
"It was a blast and we certainly surprised him," Brill said. "It was really neat to see my boy. It was worth it."
Brill lives in Elko, but has a ranch near Winnemucca as well. He does his training at Fitness Zone.
"Steve (Murray) let me bring in all my stuff and let me build an area to train," Brill said. "When you are lifting, sometimes you yell and scream and make goofy noises. No one ever complains and that is nice. I usually spend my time half and half between Winnemucca and Elko. I like to come here to get away from everyone."[[In-content Ad]]
